Self-esteem

Self-esteem is best described as the degree to which you view your own self-worth or value as a person. Your self-image begins developing during childhood and continues throughout the life-span. Low self-esteem tends to predict the type of future you will have because your beliefs about yourself will determine the choices you make in life. Choices such as staying in an abusive relationship, maintaining disrespectful friendships, or holding on to a dead-end job only serve to validate a sense of low self-worth. Our beliefs inform our choices and our choices validate our beliefs and the cycle keeps us from moving forward in a healthy way.

Some symptoms of low self-esteem are: persistent anxiety and emotional turmoil, a negative outlook on life, the inability to accept compliments, being overly concerned about what others think, not valuing your own opinions, ongoing depression, social withdrawal, the need to control people and situations, neediness and/or a constant feeling of worthlessness and helplessness to change the situation.

Counseling for Self-esteem

Self-esteem counseling can help you to work through years of hurt and begin the journey toward a better life. Therapy for low self-esteem begins with identifying faulty beliefs and assumptions that are contributing to your sense of low self-worth then identifying and understanding events in life that have contributed to your negative self-view. Through counseling you can begin to embrace a future where you feel good about who you are and what you have to offer to those around you.

Counselor Rick A. Combs uses a unique combination of talk therapy and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to treat low self-esteem. CBT has been proven one of the most effective forms of therapy for treating a wide variety of issues including low self-esteem. This combined approach to treating poor self-image or low self-esteem not only address your symptoms but also allows you to overcome those automatic negative thoughts that cause you to continually look at yourself in a negative light. You will learn to change unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaving that are keeping you feeling negative about yourself.

In your initial counseling session, Rick will carefully listen and evaluate your specific situation. With your input, Rick will develop a treatment plan that will address your individual needs and concerns in therapy and provide you with the best possible path toward a better self-image.